Page:The Doctrines of the New Church Briefly Explained.djvu/214

208 who had known him on earth. And if he desires to see any friend or relative who had died many years before, and who may have passed through the intermediate state to his final abode, his desire is gratified; his friend is remitted into the world of spirits, which means that he is let into a state similar to what he was in when on earth, and in that state he looks, speaks and acts precisely as he did before he died; and they are permitted to remain together as long as they desire. But if they are very different internally and spiritually, they will in a short time prefer to separate—each one going in freedom to the society of spirits most akin, and therefore most agreeable, to himself.

In all ages and among all nations the belief has prevailed, not only in the existence of spirits, but in the possibility of their being seen of men in the flesh. And hundreds of well-authenticated cases of the appearance of spirits to men, have been placed on record. The Bible, also, makes frequent mention of angels, and sometimes of the spirits of deceased men, rendering themselves visible to persons yet in the earth-life. Admitting, then, the well-established fact, that